Thar she blows! Whale’s tongue agave flower spike attracting bees, flies
June 06, 2016 Moby, my whale’s tongue agave (A. ovatifolia), is 61 days into his fatal flowering. Fun/sad fact: agaves flower once and then die. But I’ve had 10 good years with this agave, and I knew it was coming, so I’m just enjoying the grand display. The lower tiers ...
May flowers from A (agave) to V (vitex)
May 27, 2016 As the days fly toward summer, the daylilies are showing off their lovely throats… …and blushing, ruffled petals. Here’s ‘Best of Friends’. The first ‘Apple Tart’ smolders among the white-striped flax lilies. Stretching on long stems like giraffe necks, ‘Wilson’s Yellow’ daylily stands tall amid grasses and ...
Snake lounging and whale flowering in the garden
May 22, 2016 The biggest snake I’d ever seen in my garden was lounging in a bamboo hammock this morning. Earlier, while looking out my office window, I’d noticed a bamboo cane leaning horizontally and thought, “Hmm, did it rain again?” But no, everything looked dry, so I eventually moseyed ...
The late spring show
May 19, 2016 On this rainy, thunder-rolling day, I’m staying inside. But I have a few photos from earlier this week to share. While today all these plants are droopy with rain, they’ll soon perk back up again. This is one of my spring favorites, ‘Peter’s Purple’ bee balm (Monarda ...
Foliage in full spring swing: May Foliage Follow-Up
May 16, 2016 The day after Bloom Day is Foliage Follow-Up, a day to give foliage plants their due. This month I’m leading with the fresh spring greens of ornamental grasses, like shade-loving inland sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium). Their “oats” are just forming, and by mid-summer will turn from apple ...
Daylilies arrive with the summer heat
May 14, 2016 Hot and muggy sauna days have arrived, and with them, the daylilies. Is it a worthy trade-off? I am not sure, but since we can’t turn back the clock to balmy spring, I resolve to enjoy their sugar-glittery petals and day-in-the-sun beauty. Here’s sunny ‘Wilson’s Yellow’. And ...
To all the moms
May 08, 2016 Pink petal hearts Lots of fishes kisses Kiss Kiss You’re my cup of tea To all the moms, and to my mom especially, happy Mother’s Day! I welcome your comments. If you’re reading this in an email, click here to visit Digging and find the comment link ...
Blue twilight garden
May 07, 2016 Cobalt blue may be overused in gardens, but I don’t care. It’s such a lovely color to complement the green plants, and it’s so cooling in Austin’s hot climate. Add a little turquoise and robin’s-egg blue to the mix, and it’s even better. I added more blue, ...
Enjoying the end of spring in Austin
May 05, 2016 Any day now it’ll be summer in Texas, hot and sticky. But this week we’ve enjoyed several cool mornings — in the 50s! — and warm, non-humid afternoons. If I could bottle this up for summer I would. May is a beautiful month in Austin, no doubt ...
Where there’s a whale, there’s a way
April 29, 2016 Moby, my 10-year-old whale’s tongue agave (A. ovatifolia), which for 22 days has been sending a bloom stalk skyward, seems to be in transition. The stalk is now about 10 or 11 feet tall and holding. Meanwhile, clusters of yellow flowers are emerging along the asparagus-shaped stalk ...
Got a pot with no drainage hole? Drill it, plant it, enjoy!
April 27, 2016 Wrinkled skin and all, this green elephant pot caught my eye at Barton Springs Nursery a few weeks ago. As I looked it over, I noticed it lacked something important: a drainage hole in the bottom. A drainage hole is essential to a potted plant’s health, even ...
Lazing around in the garden
April 23, 2016 Sure, I meant to get up at sunrise this morning to plant a few new plants, prune some bamboo, and scrub out a small fountain. But we binge-watched last season’s Game of Thrones last night to get ready for Sunday’s season premier, and I’m dragging this morning ...
Bloomin’ cactus, verbena, and Moby
April 22, 2016 It’s been raining cats and dogs here in Austin — and raining lions and wolves, if that’s an appropriate comparison, over in Houston. Our lakes are full again (which seems a miracle, considering how low they got during the multi-year drought), and spring seems full of promise ...
Succulicious Foliage Follow-Up
April 16, 2016 I get succulent fever every time I see a display like this. A luscious succulent fountain dripping with string-of-pearls senecio — what better way to introduce a “watery” feature into your garden without using much actual H2O? Let’s take a little field trip to Hill Country Water ...
Moby death vigil and other flowerings
April 11, 2016 In case you don’t follow me on Facebook or Instagram, where I’ve been posting pictures since last Wednesday, when I first noticed it, I must break the news to you: Moby is dying. Moby is my beloved whale’s tongue agave (A. ovatifolia) and the most iconic plant ...
Primrose carpet at Mueller neighborhood
March 28, 2016 Don’t you wish your neighborhood had a prairie park with wildflowers and native grasses? I know I do. This carpet of pink evening primrose (Oenothera speciosa) at Mueller’s Southwest Greenway caught my eye during an Easter Sunday stroll. Lucky homeowners to overlook this beautiful park! I welcome ...
